Level Up (A5E) What would you call a 'Warlord' class? (+)

DEFCON 1 · Feb 16, 2021

Nebulous said:
Yeah, most of them do have those connotations. Warden doesn't, but it didn't get any love in the votes.

It's cause it's already been used as the "nature defender" archetype in D&D I suspect. And it isn't so great that we'd be willing to forsake that identity to take over the Warlord's.

GSHamster · Feb 16, 2021

DEFCON 1 said:
You have a valid point. My only issue with Commander (and Captain and the like) is that the names imply leadership. And that's what many people have had issue with when it comes to this class... that the character has some sort of command or leadership over the rest of the party. Which isn't necessarily the case.

While Marshal does imply a certain level of authority... it doesn't denote an authority over the people in the party. Marshal, sheriff... they are jobs, not so much roles in the group. And as the others have said verb-wise... marshalling someone just means moving them around... commanding someone means demanding they do what you say. It's not as forceful.

Hmm, maybe it's a non-American thing, but when I hear Marshal, I think of the high military rank, Field Marshals, etc. I guess Americans would associate the word more with your US Marshals who are like law enforcement, as I understand it?

BookTenTiger · Feb 16, 2021

To me, a warlord class is about commanding others in battle, so the names that communicate that ring best with me.

Warlord to me communicated a "lord of war." It's a cool name!

I like Marshal because of the idea of "marshalling the troops."

Finally, Warden has a lot of neat fantasy correlations already, and I feel like it communicated the idea of protecting / commanding an area.

jmartkdr2 · Feb 16, 2021

I'm seeing a number of comments that certain name options imply rank and that's a problem - but isn't that the point of the class? They're officers?

If the class's core ability is "giving orders", then the name's going to imply rank. You can't really get around that any more than you can come up with a good re-name for wizards that doesn't imply the ability to cast spells.

Nebulous · Feb 16, 2021

GSHamster said:
Hmm, maybe it's a non-American thing, but when I hear Marshal, I think of the high military rank, Field Marshals, etc. I guess Americans would associate the word more with your US Marshals who are like law enforcement, as I understand it?

I associate Marshall with law enforcement and deputies, a ranking officer in a town, especially in an old Western setting. I suppose you could have a 1st level marshall, but it sounds like a job title to me and not great as a class.

Tales and Chronicles · Feb 16, 2021

I'd go with warden. This is the name chosen in AiME for the spell-less bard that does most of what a ''warlord'' should be doing.

Envoy is pretty slick too, never seen it used for a class but I think its pretty evocative yet vague enough to cover highly-martial archetypes (knight commander) and other less combat-inclined (Emissaries and such).

Scribe · Feb 16, 2021

Interesting.

If the issue is around people being commanded, I would lean even more to tactician.

It says what the class is, without the implications of command, being the boss, or whatever?

Nebulous · Feb 16, 2021

I did a warlord synonym search out of curiosity and these popped up

MOST RELEVANT

Nebulous · Feb 16, 2021

Scribe said:
Interesting.

If the issue is around people being commanded, I would lean even more to tactician.

It says what the class is, without the implications of command, being the boss, or whatever?

I like tactician too. It strips away military connotations and leaves exactly what the class does. It's not a sexy name, but it would work.

DEFCON 1 · Feb 16, 2021

GSHamster said:
Hmm, maybe it's a non-American thing, but when I hear Marshal, I think of the high military rank, Field Marshals, etc. I guess Americans would associate the word more with your US Marshals who are like law enforcement, as I understand it?

That is exactly the case. We have fire marshals and air marshals but they are more obscure titles.